December 13, 1776 – Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Altered American History

The world might have looked different if it weren’t for today’s event.
December 13, 177,6 in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

Basking Ridge, New Jersey’s most famous incident, occurred on December 13, 1776, at about noon. General Charles Lee (1731-1782) was “alarmed” by Major Wilkinson while writing a letter to General Gates about George Washington in an upstairs bedroom of the Widow White’s Tavern. Widow White’s Tavern, named after Ebenezer White’s wife, Mary Brown White, became the centerpiece of Revolutionary War history on that day because it was on this most unfortunate day for General Lee that he became a prisoner of the British Army, leaving General Washington.

It was General Charles Lee vs. General George Washington until Basking Ridge Happened

There was no secret that General Charles Lee had disdain for General Washington. General Charles Lee, who had been captured in Basking Ridge on December 13, 1776, was held by the British as a prisoner until exchanged in 1778. He remarked, “Washington is not fit enough to command a Sergeant’s Guard.” Washington attempted to secure Lee’s release through a prisoner exchange, but he had no captives of similar rank with which to bargain, and Lee remained in British custody for almost 18 months. Based on the capture, no one from Congress was willing to back Lee to lead the Continental Army, and the position remained with General Washington.

During this time, Lee appears to have wavered in allegiance to his adopted country. In 1858, a document titled “Mr. Lee’s Plan, March 29, 1777” was discovered; it advised Howe on how to defeat the Continental Army. Until his death, Lee expressed animosity toward Washington, calling him “puffed-up charlatan.” In his last will, Lee asked that he not be buried in a churchyard. “I have kept so much bad company when living,” he wrote, “I do not choose to continue it when dead.” Despite these wishes, Lee was buried at the entrance to Christ Church in Philadelphia. If you are in the area, visit Charles and give him a big “thumbs down.”

Widow White’s Tavern

Suppose the British hadn’t discovered that General Lee was at the Basking Ridge tavern. In that case, he might have been able to sway the Continental Congress to select him as the Continental Army’s primary General. Washington would have had to serve as a subordinate. Lee would most likely have retreated (as he did at the Battle of Monmouth), and, as they say, the rest would have been history.

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Cat’s Meow Keepsake Honors White’s Tavern

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Think About It for a Moment……

When Charles Lee was captured on December 13, 1776, in Basking Ridge, his main body of troops was not captured with him. Most of his command was camped and quartered around Vealtown (Bernardsville) and nearby towns in northern New Jersey. With Lee gone, Major General John Sullivan took over and immediately focused on pulling the scattered regiments together and moving them to Washington as quickly as possible.

Sullivan drove the column west to the Delaware River and crossed into Pennsylvania at Easton on December 16 and December 17. From there, they marched to Bethlehem on December 18, passed through Springfield Township in northern Bucks County on December 19, and arrived late on December 20 in Buckingham Township, a few miles west of Coryell’s Ferry, essentially joining Washington’s camp in the Delaware River corridor.

Lee had commanded roughly 3,000 men on paper earlier in that period. Still, by the time Sullivan delivered the division to Washington on December 20, the number had shrunk to about 2,000, with many men exhausted, sick, or otherwise unfit after the hard march and expiring enlistments. Those troops helped rebuild Washington’s Army in the days immediately before the Trenton operation.

Finally, on the night of December 25, 1776, the war that Lee believed was collapsing exploded back to life. While Lee sat in British custody, Washington crossed the Delaware with about 2400 men in the main striking force, and the former Lee division under Sullivan made up a large share of the troops Washington now had available, alongside other arriving units and men detailed away to guard ferries and supplies. That surprise attack on Trenton the next morning became the first major American victory of the Revolution and revived a cause that many believed was finished. The triumph at Trenton proved the American Army was still alive and marked the beginning of the remarkable turnaround that would define the winter campaign.

In the end, if General Lee wasn’t captured in Basking Ridge, Lee’s troops may have never made it to cross the Delaware and take Trenton, and the war most likely would have ended the American Dream.

Our Widow White’s History Series

Next time you’re traveling in the Basking Ridge area, stop by the signpost on the corner of Cedar Avenue and South Finley Avenue and remember the moment when Basking Ridge’s history changed the world forever. Our Widow White’s Research Series

New Jersey Rev War Series Mr. Local History Project

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